The Cut of her Jib - common vessels of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Player-friendly version) Type of ship Size of vessel Masts Average speed Full speed Seaworthiness Manoeuvrability Remarks Rowboat, wherry Tiny boat 0 Slow/Swift / Feeble Nimble Ferry on rivers, lakes & ports Gig, dinghy Tiny boat 0 Lumbers/Swift / Frail Nimble Ferry, sounding & boarding Longboat Tiny boat 0-1 Lumbers/Slow Swift / Rapid Modest Nimble Ferry, conveying & lifeboat Small boat River barge 0 Slow/Swift / Feeble Clumsy 12-18’ long, often horse-drawn River boat Fair boat 1 Lumbers Swift Feeble Ponderous 24’ long, can carry 30 passengers Faering Tiny boat 1 Lumbers/Swift Rapid /Wickedly Modest Nimble Small fishing boat with 4 oars Karve Small boat 1 Slow/Brisk Swift / Extremely Modest Agile Medium fisher/small trader 16 oars Byrding Small boat 1 Very Slow/Brisk Sluggish/Very Fast Modest Lively Coastal fisher/trader with 4-14 oars Knarr Fair boat 1 Crawls/Swift V Slow/Lightning Sturdy Moderate Medium trader with 4 oars Snekke (Snekkja) Small boat 1 Lumbers/Rapid Fleet/Wickedly Modest Agile Small warship with 13 oars Drakkar (Skeid) Fair boat 1 Slow/Fleet Fair/Incredibly Modest Lively Great warship with 60 oars Dogger Small boat 1-2 Slow Swift Stable Moderate Medium fisher or small warship Pinnace Fair boat 2 Brisk Fast Modest Nimble Trader or boarder with 4-8 guns Herring Buss Small ship 2-3 Very slow Fair Sturdy Clumsy Bulgy trawler, cheap to crew & run Sloop, elven* Large boat 1-2 Rapid Lighting Sturdy Nimble Only a few (4-8) light (3-/4-) guns Cog (Kogge), Nef Small ship 1-2 Sluggish Quick Frail Ponderous Fore, top & stern castle give viz Carrack, Nao Great ship 2-3 Fair Fast Modest Clumsy Bailinger: 120t scout & raider (oared) Caravel Middling ship 2-3 Brisk Fleet Sturdy Agile Cheap & stout but small cargo Razee galleon Middling ship 3 Brisk Fleet Sturdy Clumsy Typically 2 decks with 8 guns each Galleon Great ship 3-4 Fair Fleet Modest Clumsy Many demi-culverin & demi-cannon Great galleon Royal ship 4 Fair Fleet Modest Ponderous Expensive trader & warship Fluyt (Fluit) Middling ship 2-3 Slow Swift Sturdy Lively Cheap & reliable but few guns Xebec Middling ship 2-3 Swift Very Fast Sturdy Lively Many (18-30) guns and corsairs East Indiamen Middling ship 3 Swift Quick Modest Moderate Large yet cheap & efficient Clipper, elven* Middling ship 3 Fast Impossibly fast Sturdy Moderate Tea, opium, spices, people & letters Frigate, elven* Middling ship 3 Rapid Very Fast Modest Lively Only 1 deck so limited to 16-20 guns Galea sottile Guns/catapult, archers, ram & Large boat 1-2 Fair/Swift Fast / Extremely Frail Nimble (trireme) marines but limited to 2-3 days Galea grossa High capex & opex yet small cargo so Small ship 2-3 Lumbers/Rapid Quick / Very Fast Modest Nimble (bireme) bore spices, silk and/or steel Sambuk (dhow) Fair boat 1-2 Lumbers Rapid Modest Lively Cheap but fragile, lateen = flexibility Baghlah (dhow) Middling ship 2-3 Fair Fast Sturdy Moderate Curved prow & ornately carved stern Sampan Small boat 0-1 Crawls/Very slow Lumbers/ Swift Frail Nimble Dirt cheap local fisher/trader Junk Great ship 2-4 Lumbers Quick Stable Lively No keel, flat bow & high stern * Historically inaccurate as they’re from the 18-19th centuries but so significant they should not be excluded. So their advanced designs are limited to the sea elves!

Size of vessel: as determined by burthen, masts & guns; Royal ship > Great ship > Middling ship > Small ship > Large boat > Fair boat > Small boat > Tiny boat Burthen: the ship’s cargo capacity measured in tons (if not 50-80% of displacement). However if a warship, the burthen is usually non-existent, i.e. - (XXt) Crew: a ‘+’ symbol indicates that the number of crew followed by the number of passengers or marines (soldiers, archers, etc.). For every 20% of crew that is absent, the ship suffers -10% to all Sail tests. A skeleton crew (approximately 1 man per 6 burthen tons) is the smallest possible crew but it’s risky (-30 to Sail test). Average speed: typified by safe (dozen knots) and fair (Beam Reach) winds. If 2 speeds are marked then the first describes “under oar” and the second “under sail”. Full speed: reached when a vessel is at full sail, the winds are both high (25-35 knots) and favourable (Broad Reach). Usually 3-4 knots faster than average but riskier. Flank speed: even faster speeds are possible but they require gale-force winds (35+ knots) and run a serious risk to the ship of being damaged, capsized or even sunk Impossibly fast 17 knots

Devilishly fast 16 knots

Quick 7 knots

Rapid 6 knots

Wickedly fast 15 knots Fleet 5.5 knots

Incredibly fast 14 knots Swift 5 knots

Insanely fast 13 knots

Brisk 4.5 knots

Wildly fast 12 knots

Fair 4 knots

Lightning fast 11 knots

Sluggish 3.5 knots

Extremely fast 10 knots

Lumbers 3 knots

Slow 2.5 knots

Very fast 9 knots Very Slow 2 knots

Fast 8 knots Crawls 1.5 knots

Seaworthiness: describes a ship’s ability to survive the changing and harsh conditions at sea. Where Stable (+10) > Sturdy (+5) > Modest (-) > Frail (-5) > Feeble (-10) Manoeuvrability: describes a vessel’s speed at manoevring (turning) and is measured in degrees per round (10 seconds). Manoeuvrability Nimble Agile Lively Moderate Clumsy Ponderous

Per round 30° turn 20° turn 15° turn 10° turn 5° turn 2° turn

Typical ship type Small oared Large oared Small sailed Medium sailed Large sailed Huge sailed